'Irises, Indigo and Gold' by Kazutoshi Suguira, 1992, Kyoto National Museum, Japanese Silk Screen, Nihonga

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Signed lower right, in graphite, 'K. Suguira' for Kazutoshi Sugiura (Japanese, born 1938) and dated 1992. Titled lower left, in … Read more Signed lower right, in graphite, 'K. Suguira' for Kazutoshi Sugiura (Japanese, born 1938) and dated 1992. Titled lower left, in Kanji, 'Hanashōbu' (Japanese Iris) with number and limitation, '79/80'. Sheet dimensions: 18.5 x 27 inches

Printmaker and teacher, Kazutoshi Sugiura first studied art at the Kyoto Municipal College of Fine Arts where he graduated with a major in Nihonga (Japanese-style painting). Showing early talent, he was commissioned by the International Graphic Art Society in New York to create an edition of silkscreen prints. After graduating, in 1963, he spent four years studying classical Japanese painting and the art of gold leaf restoration at Kyoto National Museum of Antiquities. In 1967, Suguira began studying Japanese classical painting at the Kyoto National Museum. From 1968 to 1972, he studied fine art restoration and, in 1978, was awarded 1st prize for Nihonga painting by the Kyoto Federation of Galleries. The use of gold leaf and rich saturated colors has become the hallmark of his prints and brings to mind the art of Japanese screen painting. He applies the gold leaf to the paper prior to the silkscreen process. This gives his works a textured, three dimensional quality that adds to his dramatic, yet intimate, compositions.

From 1960 to the present, Sugiura has held solo shows at the Yamada Art Gallery in Kyoto and, from 1986, annual exhibitions in Tokyo. Since 1978, he has been represented at the annual CWAJ Print Show in Tokyo and has, for many years, exhibited at the annual Japan Print Association in Tokyo. He has exhibited with success internationally including at solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Portland, New York, Maryland, Washington, Connecticut. Kazutoshi Sugiura's works are held in private and public collections including the permanent collections of the British Museum, the Chicago Art Institute and the Brooklyn Museum among others. See less